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DesignWalk LA 2018: Event Re-cap

Last week, the IIDA Los Angeles City Center celebrated the very first DesignWalk LA event. This event has been over one year in the making and is sure to be a must-attend for the Interior Design Los Angeles Community in years to come.

Monica DuPrey, Senior Interior Designer at IA Interior Architects, spearheaded this incredible event. She is both the LA City Center Professional Development Chair as well as the DesignWalk event co-chair. In Monica’s own words, “The idea to create an evening dedicated to connecting people, ideas, and design has been a passion of mine over the last few years”, and she certainly prevailed. Born from that passion, is DesignWalk, marrying new product design from NeoCon with a creative and collaborative spin. With the support of the IIDA LA City Center and the DesignWalk Committee, Monica brought her vision to life.

DesignWalk LA brought attendees a fresh take on the NeoCon experience. Guests were guided by map on a walking tour through the heart of Downtown LA, where they networked, learned about new products, and enjoyed the themed entertainment at each stop along the way. Starting with a Launch Party at Gensler, attendees made their way to as many as 14 locations included in the Design tour. Each stop presented product in a collaborative theme with their co-hosts, making this trade show experience truly special. Tour stop themes included Chinese New Year, Fiesta, Bringing Chicago to LA, and even a Movie Night theme. There is certainly no lack of imagination and creativity in the Interior Design Community, and this event really allowed those qualities to shine.

The event culminated with a wrap party at IOS, where IA Interior Architects Lighting Design Studio was awarded “Best Experience” of the evening. While each tour stop played an equal part in creating the total experience, IA went above and beyond. With a complete transformation of their space, they created a truly unique experience that could easily have been mistaken for a LACMA exhibit. Lighting was seamlessly integrated into each installation, creating ambiance and flow throughout their space, and product information was shared creatively. Hats-off to IA for executing their experience with sophistication and style!

While IA certainly takes the cake, Knoll was awarded an Honorable Mention for their success in creating a unique experience. Knoll brought an interactive experience to life by using many of their products in unexpected ways. Attendees had fun playing oversized beer pong on the Knoll Rockwell Unscripted Table. Knoll also highlighted two artists creating live-art demonstrations painting the Washington Skin Nylon Chair. View a time-lapse of the live art here. This tour stop amassed quite a crowd!

With over 350 attendees, DesignWalk LA has become one of the most successful and highest attended events in just its first year. This success could not be met without the hard work of so many. First and foremost, a huge thank you to Monica DuPrey for bringing DesignWalk to life. Thanks also go out to the DesignWalk 2018 Committee for volunteering their time, planning, and creative efforts to make this event so distinctive. Thank you to our Event and Chapter sponsors for supporting the Los Angeles interior design community. Most of all, thank you to the DesignWalk attendees: without you this event would not have been possible.

Thank you to all who made it out in support of this inaugural event. To view all the photos from the event, click here. If you didn’t make it, and you are experiencing a bit of FOMO, don’t worry – we are coming back next year! This is just the beginning for DesignWalk LA, and we hope to see you all at this event in years to come.